Ready to Read

Greetings to all!

Hope you celebrated the fourth of July safely and in an enjoyable way.



I am back to begin an approach to developing reading skills. First and foremost, anyone who hopes to read well needs readiness skills to prepare for success in reading. Young and old or anyone in-between needs to have auditory and visual perception in place to be successful. Likewise, in any language, student perceptions are vital to understanding reading skill concepts.



Simply put, students need to understand some directional words; up, down, over, under, between, next to, middle, etc.
If the student has trouble understanding these basic concepts of direction, reading will be somewhat delayed until the understanding is in place. This is true because as words are read, the shape of the word as well as its configuration is being remembered. Recognizing letters and numbers requires an awareness of the size, shape, and facing direction of the symbols, in order to master the names of the symbols and remember their formations.



Giving directions orally to a student to follow with paper and pencil can demonstrate student understanding of the concepts. With very young children crayons can provide the same information. For children in preschool age groups simply giving oral directions to follow will determine understanding, which is what adults are doing when they say,
"Point to your nose. Where is your ear? Can you show me your tongue?"



With paper and writing tools, the directions can be a little more specific. Draw a big red square. Put a blue X inside the square. Use your green color to make a circle around the
square. Continue to use as many directional words in the exercise as possible to determine understanding of the concepts. Without paper, give directions having students respond physically; sit down next to the pillow, crawl under the table, put you hand on top of your head, jump up and down three times.



If the student demonstrates difficulty with the concepts, it is time to review and practice the directional words for mastery.
This can be done with simple practice as the student is going through daily activity. One direction at a time maybe three times during the day, provides needed review without having the student rebel against tedious response. After a week or two, check for general understanding again, and repeat the drill or move on.



Tomorrow, I will provide some advice about other readiness skills that can be practiced during the same time directional concepts are in play. Have a good evening!